Well, more experiments are needed, but Vanderbilt University
researchers say that the diabetes drug Exendin-4, which targets dopamine systems in the brain,
may also work against cocaine and meth addiction.

The Experiment

Using animal subjects, the researchers injected Exendin-4
and watched to see how the medication would influence cocaine consumption.

The Results

The medication, which is simply a synthetic and long lasting
version of the peptide hormone GLP-1, blocked the rewarding effects (the high)
from cocaine.

This result occurred regardless of the dose of Exendin-4
given

There were no noticeable side effects

Although the drug was only tested against cocaine, the
researchers suspect it would also dull the rewarding effects of other psycho-stimulants,
like methamphetamine, and that it would work for other disorders which have a dopaminergic component,
such as obesity and schizophrenia.

Significance

The researchers say that the findings are significant
because:

The medication is already FDA approved to treat diabetes and
so should be easily transferable to addiction medicine.

There are no existing effective medications for psycho-stimulant
addiction

Commentary

Lead researcher Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D noted that since
addiction is such a complex disorder in humans it’s unlikely that all people
would respond to the medication or that it would ‘cure’ addiction for anyone,
stating, "We don't expect this to be a magic bullet where one can simply
take this drug and their addiction goes away, but hopefully a medicine like
this, in combination with social and behavioral support, will help an addict on
the road to recovery."

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